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From: john@bby-bc.UUCP (john)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs
Subject: Re: trouble with Seagate 40mb drive
Message-ID: <162@bby-bc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-Sep-87 14:46:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: bby-bc.162
Posted: Fri Sep 25 14:46:24 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Sep-87 10:01:38 EDT
References: <3407@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Organization: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Lines: 22
Summary: may be the brake

> 3 months the hard disk has periodically not spun up when the
> machine was turned on.  This sometimes happened without fail for
> weeks at a time, so the machine essentially had no hard disk.
.
.
> The "solution"?  Shake the drive back and fourth until it rattles.
> (I am not kidding)
> 
> Does anyone have a better solution?  Has anyone else had this problem?
> 
Yes I had exactly the same problem with my Rodime 203e .  The problem 
turned out to be the brake.  It is a solenoid with a little circular
tab of cork which is forced against the shaft.  The cork had worn
asymetrically and so (sometimes) as the drive braked the solenoid
shaft became skewed (i.e. there was now enough play/clearance that
the shaft could be shifted slightly to the side) and basically
"wedged" up against the shaft.  An easy way to check, if the motor
shaft is accessible is to power up and give the shaft a turn by hand.
Fixing this is easy: take the solenoid out and true up the cork with
a razor blade.
hope this helps.
john